We all need to feel competent, involved, interesting and successful - perhaps especially those who find these needs most difficult to achieve, either because of learning difficulties or those whose background experience has disadvantaged them.

Many people would put a second language is in the “too hard” basket for children with special challenges, but focusing entirely on English can mean some children experience nothing but failure unnecessarily.

English is a difficult and inconsistent language, which is hard to appreciate if you don't know any other. Most people don’t know that Esperanto, which was designed for ease of learning, is six times easier to learn than Italian, the next easiest for English-speakers.

Children with normal abilities and interest can master Esperanto completely in 100-200 hours of use. The fact that most normally-able children don’t can be a special source of self-esteem for a child with extra difficulties.

Instead of focusing on what the child cannot do that others can, this is a chance to focus on what s/he can do, and others can’t - communicate with children in dozens of cultures around the world, in the most international of languages.

Children with language disabilities quite often master the spelling and reading of Esperanto completely, and gain great encouragement from doing so, before making much progress at all in written English.

So, for children who are in school but struggling, Esperanto is a leg-up to the work that everyone is doing, an opportunity to belong in a global community and a personal achievement that is genuinely interesting and impressive to others.

The resource “Talking to the Whole Wide World” equips teachers, aides and parents to teach the world’s simplest complete language whilst learning Esperanto themselves.The teacher does not need to know the language before starting to teach the course as it is designed to teach the teacher at the same time, It contains enjoyable teaching methodologies which have been highly praised by some of Australia’s highest authorities, and it contains advice to help you use the language to make real, mutually respectful, fun connections with children around the world.